The 2016 NCAA Division Men's III Ice Hockey Tournament was the culmination of the 2015–16 season, the 33rd such tournament in NCAA history. It concluded with Wisconsin–Stevens Point defeating St. Norbert in the championship game 5-1. All First Round and Quarterfinal matchups were held at home team venues, while all succeeding games were played at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, New York.
Qualifying teams The following teams qualified for the tournament. Automatic bids were offered to the conference tournament champion of seven different conferences. Four at-large bids were available for the highest-ranked non-automatic qualifiers (overall seed in parentheses).
East West Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid Seed School Conference Record Berth Type Appearance Last Bid1 Hobart (3) ECAC West 21–4–2 At–Large 6th 20151 Adrian (1) NCHA 24–3–1 Tournament Champion 6th 20152 Geneseo State SUNYAC 18–4–6 Tournament Champion 5th 20142 St. Norbert (2) NCHA 23–3–2 At–Large 16th 20143 Williams NESCAC 18–5–2 At–Large 1st Never3 Wisconsin–Stevens Point (4) WIAC 21–5–2 At–Large 12th 20154 Trinity NESCAC 21–5–1 Tournament Champion 5th 20154 Augsburg MIAC 17–8–2 Tournament Champion 3rd 19985 Massachusetts–Boston NEHC 21–4–3 Tournament Champion 1st Never6 Salem State MASCAC 22–5–0 Tournament Champion 8th 20147 Salve Regina ECAC Northeast 17–10–1 Tournament Champion 1st Never
Format The tournament featured four rounds of play. All rounds were Single-game elimination. The top four overall seeds were arranged so that the first- and fourth-seeded teams would be in the same semifinal bracket while the second- and third-seeded teams would play in the other.
Because the third western seed had a higher overall ranking than the second eastern seed the western team was given a bye into quarterfinal round. Because both teams that received byes in one bracket were from the west both were placed in the same quarterfinal bracket to cut down on travel. To further cut down on travel the remaining western team received the final bye and would play the second western seed in the quarterfinals.
The top eastern team received a bye into the second round and would play the winner of the match between the fourth- and fifth-seeded eastern teams. For the remaining quarterfinal bracket the second- and seventh-seeded eastern teams would play with the winner advancing to play the victor of the game between the third- and sixth-seeded eastern teams.
With the fourth overall seed being placed in the same quarterfinal as the first overall seed, the remaining bracket contained the second eastern seed as the top-ranked team.
In the First Round and Quarterfinals the higher-seeded team served as host.
Tournament Bracket
Note: * denotes overtime period(s)
Results
First round
Quarterfinals
Semifinals
National Championship
All-Tournament Team G: Max Milosek (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) D: Alex Brooks (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) D: Blake Thompson (St. Norbert) F: Erik Cooper (St. Norbert) F: Frankie DeAugustine (Massachusetts–Boston) F: Eliot Grauer * (Wisconsin–Stevens Point) * Most Outstanding Player(s)
Record by conference Conference# of BidsRecordWin %Frozen FourChampionship GameChampions NCHA 2 2–2 1 1 - NESCAC 2 1–2 - - - WIAC 1 3–0 1 1 1 SUNYAC 1 2–1 1 - - NEHC 1 2–1 1 - - ECAC West 1 0–1 - - - MIAC 1 0–1 - - - ECAC Northeast 1 0–1 - - - MASCAC 1 0–1 - - -
References